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South Shetland Islands

Georges Island also known as Penguin Island is a tiny island of one square mile in size located on a remote tip of Antarctica in the direction of Argentina. It is part of the South Shetland Islands discovered by the British in 1820. The island is called Penguin Isle by South Americans is home to an abundance of wildlife including millions of penguins. It is also a tourist destination for hikers and volcanologists because the island is a dormant volcano, Deacon’s Peak.

Penguins have never been my favorite animal, but they have always interested me. As I child living in San Antonio we often visited the large zoo there. I always looked forward to going to the reptile house to see the snakes. Years ago they also had a fish house. Now of course there is Sea World. At the zoo I always looked forward to the Penguin house. I loved stepping into the cool building getting a respite from the Texas heat. They were funny looking to me. I did not know if they were a bird or a fish. They would jump in the cold water and then fly out to land. This was before my biology classes, and of course I now know they are mammals. I enjoyed the movie March of the Penguins in 2005 which did a good job of bringing to life the story of the penguins on Antarctica.

When I first created my board game TreasureTrove in the late 1980’s, I was wanted to have a number of interesting places on the game board that might invite the interest of the players, especially children. For example, I wanted there to be a Shark Island, a Dragoon Island, Dinosaur Valley and so forth. One of the pathways on the board traverses from the southern tip of South America to the southern tip of Africa. I wanted all the pathways on the board to have a variety of treasure spaces or interesting destinations so I wanted to come up with something on that remote trek of the southern hemisphere. I placed a spot on the board and called it Penguin Island. This was before the internet and I did not know if there actually was such a place but at least we would all understand that that is where lots of penguins are. For kids it would be a point of geographic interest.

Penguin Island on the game board of TreasureTrove

I was pleasantly surprised when I brought my game to production many years later that there is in reality a place known as Penguin Island off of Antarctica. I have since learned there is also a Penguin Island just off Western Australia.

To enjoy a journey around the globe searching for treasure and experiencing exotic animals and places please visit our website at TreasureTrovegame.com